iPhone 5s photo comparison: Gold, Silver, and Space Gray!

The iPhone 5s comes in three color variants; Gold, Silver, and Space Gray. We've managed to get our hands on all three models and the first order of business was to take tons of photos of all of them in all their aluminium glory. Whether you're still waiting for your iPhone 5s to arrive or just can't decide on which color to go with, we've got tons of photos to help you decide, including tons of the hard to find gold edition!

Once you've checked out all the images in the gallery, be sure to let us know in the comments what iPhone 5s you went with. You can also check out our other iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c photo galleries via the links below.

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Reader comments

iPhone 5s photo comparison: Gold, Silver, and Space Gray!

Man they look preeeettty..... I got the 64GB Space Gray, ordered online from Apple. I went to look at the ATT store today to see a few in person, and they told me they have the 64GB Space Gray in stock...doh!

I was just at the Apple Store, and the Gold is 1000x more subtle than your photos here. I was afraid to buy the gold online without trying it first, so I ordered silver. I don't regret my decision, but the gold is very very subtle in person.

Did they doctor that picture because I've seen one in person (and ordered one) and it's not nearly that color so it's odd that they chose to pick such an inaccurate photo to show us what the different colors look like.

The gold was extremely hard to photograph. The way you hold it and the lighting environment matters a great deal. I used natural daylight light bulbs and still had trouble producing consistent photos. The finish looks completely different depending on lighting to be honest.

No. I'm saying what the phone looks like is greatly going to depend on lighting. Outside, inside, under different kinds of lighting, different colored walls that light is bouncing off of - it will look different. It's almost an iridescent type finish. I had good lighting and a very good camera. If I moved 3 feet and the light hit the gold iPhone a different way, it looked different. That is the way it looked under controlled lighting in a room with walls that weren't sterile white like they are in an Apple Store. I would say that what it looks like in the Apple Store is not exactly what you'll see in your home or under yellowish lighting.

I did very minimal editing and never did anything that changed the color of the phones. Most editing was cleaning up dust on the devices or on the tables to be honest. That was about it.

I saw an early shot of the 5c on the site. It looked odd; as if a mix of tungsten and fluorescent was hitting it - not nice. Your shot of the 5s looks fine; that silk finish looks directional and tricky. Getting the text and logo to look even will be a pain. Perhaps a light tent? I do not envy you that job.

It's hard to say until we start seeing lots of gold iPhones out and about. I ultimately went with Silver because some hands-on 5S videos made the gold really gaudy and some looked really nice. I didn't want to purchase a phone whose level of classiness could shift based on what room I was in.

Yes. Correct. And that's why Apple is calling it the "Champagne" version. Gold is ugly, it's loud and tacky/cheap looking - I saw the champagne one in person and oh boy, it's beautiful. Very subtle, but classy.

I ordered the space grey version, but can completely see why the champagne version is popular.

Ordered the 64Gb 5S via the online Apple Store and scored a 1 - 3 day shipping date.
Been a fan of black iPhones since the 3GS. So had to settle for the Space Gray this time around.
From the photos, I'm sure I'll be pleased.

Ordered a 64gb Gold, so impatiently waiting until 2-7/10 for delivery. Is the Apple symbol on the back of the Gold iPhone reflective - like the silver iPhone 5? Great photos, nice to see a "real" view of the phones.

how does the space gray looks? feels? i saw one review (or comparison) on youtube and the person said the edges/sides of the space gray has a look of the 4/4s like if apple was trying to go back to that hardware for a little. I'm either going for the gold (new and unique) or space gray since i like the fact that the home button is pretty different than the iphone 5's button and has some of a differ look.

You have to see the gold 5s in person. The gold is actually very subtle and not gaudy at all. I was surprised how much I liked it but I ended up purchasing the Space Grey model instead as they had no Gold or Silver models available. The phone and iOS 7 rocks. Apple nailed it!

It's not as subtle under different kinds of lighting. Apple store = sterile white and bright lights. Get it home under tungsten or fluorescent lighting and it's different. I noticed it immediately when I pulled it out of the box when I got home. It's still pretty but more noticeable under certain lights and less noticeable under others. It's a very weird finish in my opinion.

I wanted the silver, but decided on gold at the last minute. Had no idea that it would be so popular. Hope I don't regret my choice. Ordered within minutes and still have expected delivery date of 8-11 October. Nothing to do but wait for it to arrive.

I didn't happen to pick up the 5S this year. But had i done so, I'm pretty sure that even as cool as having the gold one would be, I still would have gone with the black/space gray. I think it still has that sleek and refined look whereas the other two seem to have an "outty" for a fingerprint sensor.

Went to At&t on launch day and stood in line from 4:30 am until 8:00 when they opened the doors. At about 7:00 an At&t rep came out and said all they could sell were the Space Grey models. I was fine with that because that's the only model I ever considered. They only had the Space Grey available for viewing as well. I'm extremely happy with the phone. I think its one of the best phones Apple has made to date (and I've had one since the 2g days). No matter what color you end up with, you are bound to be pleased.

Currently I have both the Silver and the Black iPhone 5 so I will be dropping the silver for a Gold 5s which will be delivered on Thursday! Have to say though.. when you put the silver and gold side by side it's kinda hard to tell them apart.. I did this in two different Apple stores and was hoping it was just the lighting but the differences between them are very slight. I will see how it looks in natural light..

Picture 11 actually kinda proves that black and gold would have looked pretty boss, the Apple logo is reflecting black within the gold so you can just use your imagination. Imagine how many they would have sold in Pittsburgh.

I was as well. I ended up doing a survey and passing around my family. The result was gold. If you want people to know you got an iPhone 5s from just a glance, then get gold. The other two colours were more or less than iPhone 5 colours. Silver's kind of refreshing in a way (just think of water at the same time as looking at it and you should see what I mean, or maybe it's just me if you can't. Random fact: I love swimming etc... :D). Space grey is best for watching movies on and stuff because you wont't really notice the rest of the phone and it apparently just kind of blends in when you watch films, videos etc...